


Forgetting

by Lunamayn



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, I am tired, Not Beta Read, Please Forgive me, and this is the first thing i have written in a great long while, i wanted an opal learning to love herself fic, late at night at that, opal is a healing lady, set a few years in the future, written in three hours at night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 13:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9387050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunamayn/pseuds/Lunamayn
Summary: Being forgetful isn't always a bad thing.





	

“Umm, Opal?” Steven asked softly, watching as the figure on the edge of the temple shifted to face him. Hidden under her mass of hair, Opal's uncanny features revealed themselves to Steven. Gingerly, she beckoned him closer, “Hello, Steven.”

“I was looking for Pearl and Amethyst, they ran off a few hours ago and I couldn't find them,” he offered her, watching the way her pale eyes shifted to look back at him after they had wandered back to the setting sun, “I thought that they might've gone on a secret mission.”

Steven sat down next to her, mindful of his position as he recalled watching Amethyst fall off all those years back. The fence they'd erected had long since been damaged and taken down by a particularly nasty storm, Gems just couldn't build quality fences.

He looked back up to her, feeling her tresses brush his arm as the wind picked up and blew them his way. Opal's pointed profile was unreadable, lost and far away in a place that Steven couldn't reach. Suddenly her lower left arm came to rest on his back, comforting him that she just needed a reminder.

“Opal?” He nudged her again, his intrigue at her appearance here continuing.

“Hmm?” The low hum of her acknowledgment gave him the consent to ask, “Did Pearl and Amethyst go on a secret mission?” Her leg bounced without her knowing as her upper right hand played with strands of hair.

“In a way, they did,” Opal replied thoughtlessly. Her gaze was locked on the horizon, although the gentle stroke of her large thumb on his back reassured Steven she was still with him.

“What do you mean? Are they already done?” He questioned again, curious as to what mission could've possibly required them to fuse and form Opal. It must've been quite the adventure, he regretted not having snuck off with them earlier when he watched them disembark. 

“Not quite, Steven,” The mumbled reply was low and deep, “I am the mission.” 

She seemed to pause at that, her mouth turning in a bemused way, “At least I think I am.”

“Huh? What're they doing?” Steven pressed further, his wonder ablaze as he watched the giant woman continue to peer at the blossoming night sky. The periwinkle hue of her skin deepened in the night as he waited patiently for her answer.

Finally, the chorus of the crickets was interrupted as she simply replied, “Forgetting.”

Steven's mind burned with questions as the cool ocean breeze made his skin clammy, “Did they see something they weren't supposed to?”

“Not exactly,” Was all the fusion offered up. Getting answers out of Opal was next to impossible, so Steven decided to let things rest. Regardless of how unsatisfied he was, he was happy that they had both found peace in Opal's being for the time at hand. Besides, he could always ask Pearl and Amethyst when they eventually unfused. 

For now, Steven decided that it would just be best to sit beside his forgetful ocean gazing partner. A sudden glow from above found Steven being wrapped in a blanket, Pearl's gem on Opal's forehead fading as the summoned item was finally on Steven's shoulders. With a quiet thank you, they continued to watch the stars dance across the water. 

Just as his eyes finally began to grow heavy, Opal's voice rose, “When individuals focus on their differences in a poor light, what get's accomplished?”

“Nothing really,” Steven supplied sleepily, his mind waking as his interest in what Opal was going to say increased. 

“And what does one accomplish in denying feelings?” She asked aloud, her eyes still far off.

“Opal, are you okay?” His hand came to touch her forearm, hoping to establish eye contact and assurance with her.

“Hmm? Oh yes, I'm sorry to have worried you,” Finally her eyes locked onto his, “I'm only forgetting.”

“Forgetting what?” And this time, Steven didn't have to wait very long.

“Forgetting how I used to view myself, and how Pearl and Amethyst used to view each other. I exist in balance, like any healthy fusion does,” She paused and thought for a moment on how she wanted to continue, “For so long, I relied on the solid foundation of the things Pearl and Amethyst share, and in doing so I closed myself off to the freedom and choice of their differences.”

Steven's tired eyes traced her relaxed posture, groggily noting he'd never seen her once off point.

“I clung to what I thought made me stable, and in doing so I made myself too rigid and unrelenting. I have to be open to the unpredictability of situations that occur that don't fall under Pearl and Amethyst's similarities.”

Her normally rigid shoulders trembled, her discomfort at the words she was saying manifesting.

“Being in freefall is okay, not being in absolute control over all the things they fear is okay,” She trailed off, “Learning to let the negative emotions they both try to deny wash over me is okay too.”

The sound of rolling waves filled the space where Steven expected Opal to continue, glancing upwards and seeing her lower right hand on the gem on her chest and her upper right hand on her forehead gem worried him for a moment, “Did Garnet offer to help you with this?” 

“We saw how well it worked for Stevonnie, and we figured we could handle it,” The disjointed voice spook, “Well, I mean they saw how it worked, and I figured I could-”

“Opal, it's okay,” He smiled up at her, watching her pale eyes water, “What you're doing is incredibly difficult. Unfuse now, let yourself relax. You guys took the first steps in the right direction today, and you did it alone.”

“I'm healing them, Steven,” She smiled proudly, unsure of how long she'd be able to hold herself together. She could already feel the streams of Amethyst and Pearl's light untangling, ready to let her rest and recover for when they tried again.

“You're healing yourself too, don't forget that,” Steven told her, watching as her gems began to glow brighter and brighter as they engulfed her entire form.

“I won't,” Opal promised, and a moment later Pearl and Amethyst were back. Wound tightly together, both gems had their arms wrapped around the other. Pearl's legs were tucked underneath of her, and her face was buried in Amethyst's white locks as she sputtered a few residual sobs. The purple gem had her eyes squeezed firmly shut, a quiet mutter of, “We did so good, P.”

The sudden loss of Opal's large hand on his back threw Steven off for a moment, but the tight embrace he received as he approached the two gems smoothed that loss out perfectly.

**Author's Note:**

> So I have no words for this really, I just busted this out in three hours because I needed to get this out of my brain. Steven is probably about sixteen in this, and the Pearlmethyst is implied but trust me I meant it 100%. I just wanted an Opal shaped bandaid on their healing process. Do I think it'll take three years for those two nerds to heal? Not really, but I didn't want to put this kinda pressure onto a fourteen year old kid. Also, what did Opal do for all those hours? What did Stevonnie do when they became disillusioned with reality due to their thoughts becoming overwhelming? I think Opal was so perfectly able to block all of that out, that when she finally let's her guard down this is what will happen. I'm gonna go sleep, if you see a typo let me know and I'll fix it. Thank you so much for reading <3


End file.
